Indigo Bunting
(Passerina cyanea)
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Ecology • Distribution • Taxonomy
Conservation Status |
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| IUCN Red List | LC - Least Concern |
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| NatureServe | N5B - Secure Breeding SNRB - Unranked Breeding |
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| Minnesota | not listed |
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Description |
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Size |
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5½″ in length 8″ wingspan |
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Voice |
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Similar Species |
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Habitat |
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Deciduous forests, woodland edges, shrubby fields, orchards. |
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Ecology |
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Migration |
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May to early June and late July to mid-October |
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Nesting |
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Food |
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Distribution |
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Occurrence |
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Uncommon to common migrant, uncommon to locally common breeder |
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Maps |
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The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union All Seasons Species Occurrence Map |
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Taxonomy |
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| Class | Aves (birds) | ||
Order |
Passeriformes (perching birds) | ||
Family |
Cardinalidae (cardinals and allies) | ||
Genus |
Passerina (Varied Buntings) | ||
Synonyms |
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Visitor Photos |
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Beth Cornman |
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I was pleasantly surprised to see this Indigo Bunting feeding on my feeder .. I did get pictures of him. This was about 2 weeks ago.. he came back the next day, but haven't seen him since. |
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Kim Firkus |
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Just saw my first indigo bunting May 14 2002 in Pequot Lakes Minnesota so exciting |
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Lynn M |
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County Rd 111 |
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Norm & Peg Dibble |
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| … I had finally captured an Indigo Bunting on our cement patio in May of 2013. |  |
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James Gordon |
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| Lately we have had several indigo bunting at our feeders, I have counted 7 at one time. Very attractive bird. |  |
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Zim |
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Melody Lackner |
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Bill Reynolds |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos |
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Slideshows |
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Indigo Bunting |
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Indigo Bunting |
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Indigo Bunting |
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Visitor Videos |
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Other Videos |
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| Indigo Bunting The Music of Nature |
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About
Uploaded on Apr 29, 2010 This sweet little video celebrates the Indigo Bunting and its song. It features footage I obtained from Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky. Look carefully at the second clip in the sequence—you can see the bird's breath condensing when he sings! The strident, high-pitched, lively song of the male is usually made up of a series of doubled phrases: "sweet, sweet, chew, chew, see-it, see-it". The Indigo Bunting gets its name from it's beautiful indigo blue color. Although quite common in shrubby clearings over much of the East, this species is not well known to the general public and is often confused with the Eastern Bluebird (there are only a handful of North American birds that are primarily blue in coloration). © 2010 Lang Elliott |
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| Indigo Bunting Singing.MOV mj197012 |
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About
Uploaded on Jun 2, 2010 Indigo Bunting singing on June 2, 2010 in West Salem Wisconsin. Video captured with a Canon 7D camera. |
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| Indigo Bunting Birdzilla.com |
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About
Uploaded on Mar 21, 2011 Meet the Indigo Bunting through images and video |
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| Indigo Bunting thepacerspecial |
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About
Uploaded on Mar 15, 2008 070307 |
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| Indigo Bunting - Full Year Animation eBird |
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About
Published on Sep 10, 2013 Brilliant azure male Indigo Buntings sing conspicuously from high perches, telephone lines, and wood edges. Females are drab and unobstrusive, as are winter-plumaged birds and immatures, which can form sizeable flocks in the fall in areas with abundant grain. This habitat shift--from scrublands, wood edges, and forest clearings to grasslands, agricultural areas, and weedy patches--is something that is understood by the STEM models. Please keep in mind that the data that underlie the pretty animated maps are in fact much richer and reveal many additional bits of information about seasonal habitat preferences. When we plot the monthly relative importance of deciduous forest to the predictions in these models, we find that it becomes much less important from August to October, which is a time that Indigos are leaving their Breeding areas and foraging in fields. In the future, we hope to be able to provide more of this data as well. Some of the fall habitat shift can be seen in the animation. The lower Mississippi River valley is a broad swath of agriculture, especially in northeastern Louisiana. A common pattern on these maps is to see that area show up as bright (e.g., Horned Lark) or dark (e.g., Brown-headed Nuthatch, Wood Thrush). The reason for this is the broad, landscape scale habitat that dominates here (agriculture) and the comparatively tiny amount of forest in tis area, as compared to all the areas around it. Of course, the lack of forest here is quite a sad thing, since the woodlands of this area used to be some of the most majestic prior to being entirely converted to agriculture. The migration of Indigo Bunting is one of our favorite examples and the STEM models really show it quite well. In late March and April the species arrives on the Gulf Coast, after crossing directly from the Yucatan. A wedge of arriving buntings surges north through the Mississippi River Valley and spreads out from there over the course of almost 1.5 months, a rather protracted arrival when compared to other landbirds. Birds at the northern edge of their range in New England do not fill in their territories until late May. The fall movement heads south back across and around the Gulf of Mexico primarily during October. |
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Visitor Sightings |
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Report a sighting of this bird. |
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| This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Be sure to include a location. |
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| Beth Cornman 6/20/2023 |
Location: Statesville, NC I was pleasantly surprised to see this Indigo Bunting feeding on my feeder .. I did get pictures of him. This was about 2 weeks ago.. he came back the next day, but haven't seen him since. |
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| Seela B 5/18/2023 |
Location: Bovey, MN Noticed on feeder this evening in our large, open yard, and watched as he flew into the nearby wooded area. |
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| HMitchell 5/9/2023 |
Location: Ellendale, MN Male stopped by on a branch of the brushy area where we have our various feeders (suet, loose seed, formed seed, oranges and niger). Didn’t stay more than a few seconds. We had goldfinches, orioles, chickadees and starlings at the feeders when the bunting arrived. Never saw him again. ☹️ |
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| Heidi 7/14/2022 |
Location: Montgomery, MN Prairie, Woodland edge |
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| Kaye 5/23/2022 |
Location: Golden Valley, MN watched a pair feed at our bird feeder around 7PM. |
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| Sue 5/15/2022 |
Location: Shelving, MN have seen just one, but several times at feeders. First time seen one, beautiful! |
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| Gail 5/17/2022 |
Location: New Brighton, MN First time I’ve ever seen one! Seen foraging in the grass in both the morning and afternoon. |
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| Stephanie 5/15/2022 |
Location: Brainerd, MN This is the first time I have ever seen one - I looked out my window and saw it in my hanging bird feeder: |
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| Kim Firkus 5/14/2020 |
Location: Pequot Lakes, Minnesota Just saw my first indigo bunting May 14 2002 in Pequot Lakes Minnesota so exciting |
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| Ruth Weibel 5/13/2022 |
Location: Minnetonka, MN Sighted a male outside my office window which backs up to a wooded area. I have feeders out one with a songbird mix of black oil sunflower seeds, safflower, peanuts, raisins & cherries. Another with mealworms & lastly a suet cake with corn, white millet, oats and blueberries. I have never seen this type of bird before! |
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| Sharon Aiken Peterson 5/12/2022 |
Location: Wyoming MN First time I've ever seen one. We have lots of Baltimore Orioles, yellow finches, wood peckers(all) and cardinals. Even saw a Barn Owl in the tree! |
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| Bonnie West 5/12/2022 |
Location: Desnoyer Park, St. Paul, Mn a lone bird in the bushes. I was lucky to see and snap a photo! |
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| Cindy Kressin 5/11/2022 |
Location: Breckenridge, MN, Wilkin County Comments: We live in the country with fields around our house. I have feeders out with black oil sunflowers, berries and meal worms. |
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| Lonnie Weaver 5/10/2022 |
Location: Newburg Township, MN Sighted just outside Mabel MN in Newburg Township, Fillmore County in Southeastern MN. |
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| CamilleK 5/9/2022 |
Location: Excelsior MN |
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| Ian Collins 8/29/2021 |
Location: Hibbing Minnesota First one in my lifetime. |
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| Lynn M 7/7/2021 |
Location: Aitkin/Crow Wing County line County Rd 111 |
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| Deanna 5/25/2021 |
Location: Pine City, MN First time I have seen an Indigo Bunting in natural setting! |
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| Ashley L 5/18/2021 |
Location: Rock Creek, MN It is the first sighting we have seen here in 3 years. It was eating off the ground next to the bird feeder. |
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| Paulette G 6/21/2020 |
Location: Ramsey/Nowthen area Saw an Indigo Bunting (male) at my backyard feeder in the Ramsey/Nowthen area. I've lived here 15 years and this is my first sighting. Have a mixture of hulled variety of seeds, dried fruit and dried mealworms. Was competing with 3 goldfinches for a spot at the feeder. |
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| Amy 5/30/2020 |
Location: Empire, MN Saw it while leaving The Mulch Store outside Rosemount, MN. |
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| Debra Arneson 5/29/2020 8:30pm...dusk |
Location: Columbia Heights/New Brighton city line Male Indigo Bunting at my backyard feeder ( variety of seed & nuts..some sunflower in shell ). First time sighted .. lived here 6 years with backyard feeders every year. Stayed at feeder more than 5 minutes than flew to wooded area close by. |
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| JP 5/22/2020 |
Location: Wyoming, MN Sighted at front yard feeder. Cedar, Oak & Arborvitae’s nearby. So excited since they are very seldom sighted. |
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| Diane McCabe 5/19/2020 |
Location: Suet feeder in front of our house north of Bemidji, MN. We live on a lake and with forest all around our home. |
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| Gretchen 5/17/2020 |
Location: Big Lake We saw an. Indigo bunting at our feeder and birch tree in Big Lake |
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| Pam Reierson 5/16/2020 |
Location: St.Louis Park, MN About 2:45 pm, I saw a single indigo bunting around my multiple feeders in my backyard/garden. It checked out the feeders but did not find anything it wanted among the following offerings: (nectar, grape jelly, oranges, golden safflower, peanuts or suet). No other birds were around the feeders that might have scared it away. It flew away before I could check the ground below the feeders. |
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| Stephanie G. 5/16/2020 |
Location: Owatonna One Indigo Bunting this morning eating at my finch feeder. |
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| Dave G. 5/4/2020 |
Location: Apple Valley, MN We have had what I believe to be the same indigo bunting visit our feeders twice today. |
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| Alice Vesel 6/1/2019 |
Location: Hibbing, Mn |
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| Dan Rossiter 5/27/2019 |
Location: Cotton, Minnesota (LONG Lake) |
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| Renee Parduhn 5/22/2019 |
Location: Alexandria, Minnesota I live in rural Alexandria and have approximately 30 orioles around my feeders. Just now I also have indigo buntings! I've never seen one here before!!!! |
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| Mike and Kate 5/21/2019 |
Location: Inver Grove Heights, MN |
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| Kathy 5/19/2019 |
Location: Barrett, Minnesota in my yard today by the lake - gorgeous bird! |
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| Jim Gordon 5/11/2019 |
Location: Dassel, Minnesota 55325 Lately we have had several indigo bunting at our feeders, I have counted 7 at one time. Very attractive bird. |
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| Naomi 5/12/2019 |
Location: Granite Falls, MN |
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| Alissa 5/9/2019 |
Location: Chatfield, MN |
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| Amanda H. 5/23/2018 |
Location: rural Winsted feeding on the ground under a bird feeder |
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| DL Garland 5/21/2018 |
Location: Watertown Mn I seen an Indigo Bunting our My kitchen window in the neighbors tree above his bird feeder. |
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| Wayne S. 5/21/2018 |
Location: St. Cloud, MN At feeder this morning |
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| Michelle M. 5/17/2018 |
Location: Randall, Minnesota |
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| Zim 5/14/2018 |
Location: Mendota Heights, MN |
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| Ashley 5/12/2018 |
Location: On fence post along pasture, Rural area of New Ulm, Mn wooded area near by |
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| Kim 5/12/2018 |
Location: Bird feeder in Vermillion MN |
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| Barb and Brian 7/2/2017 |
Location: Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden Caught a picture of him in a pine tree. Quite a treat! |
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| Melody Lackner 6/6/2017 |
Location: Aitkin, MN |
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| Bernie Dischinger 4/2/2017 |
Location: Plymouth Minnesota Just happened to see him this afternoon thought it was way early. |
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| AftonAnn 8/19/2016 |
Location: Prairie/Forest Edge and feeder Afton, MN |
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| Bill and Lisa Wiseman 7/10/2016 |
Location: Lakeville, MN on feeder, mixed seed |
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| Darwin and Karen 6/2/2016 |
Location: Prinsburg, MN first time seeing one. Was on the thistle feeder |
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| Steve S 5/10/2016 |
Location: Chanhassen, MN I have not observed an Indigo Bunting at our feeder before. These are supposedly common in eastern US but I did not notice them in our yard before today. |
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| Rana 4/27/2016 |
Location: South Minneapolis backyard feeder |
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| Jackie 4/24/2016 |
Location: Vicksburg, MS I have seen four on my back patio. |
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| Greg & Deb Swenson 7/6/2015 |
Location: Gaylord MN Spotted on our yard north or town |
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| Andrew 5/24/2015 |
Location: Little Falls, MN Hi, today my father spotted an indigo bunting in Little Falls, MN |
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| Pond watchers 5/18/2015 |
Location: Plymouth, MN |
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| Nanette Hartman 5/11/2015 |
Location: my bird feeder Green Isle, MN never seen them at my feeder before. |
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| Patty & Don Wajda 7/15/2014 |
Location: Backyard NE Minneapolis around 8 pm wow |
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| Boyd Herdendorf 5/12/2014 |
Location: Fridley, Mn. Spotted at the bird feeder on the back deck. |
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| 16512466812 5/8/2014 |
Location: Osceola, Wisconsin |
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| Norm & Peg Dibble May 2013 |
Location: Maple Grove, MN I forgot that I had finally captured an Indigo Bunting on our cement patio in May of 2013. |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings |
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Burnsville, MN |
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